My First
LeapPad, based on the very popular LeapPad interactive
book system, is designed for even younger kids than the well-known
LeapPad. The books are a
little smaller, and they open up and down rather than left to
right. The unit is cute, but should parents buy this system,
or should they skip right to the LeapPad?

Children use the magic touch pen
to activate hotspots on each of the book's pages. The basic unit
comes with one book, Leap's Big Day, but there are already a
number of extra books available and sold separately. Each page of
the books offer things like songs, words that are read aloud when
pressed on (an excellent pre-reading exercise), find-it games, and
so forth.

Very
young users will need time to understand that they must press the
Go button each time they want to activate a new page. If they
don't the pen "reads" the previous page! Once kids know
that they have to "tell" the toy they are on a new page,
the learning and fun begins.

The
toy also comes with a panel that fits on instead of a book. This
is designed to teach kids basic concepts. Most children will tire
of that soon enough, and will of course have much more fun with
the book. The down side to this toy is that inevitably, parents
will want to purchase more books, and this can be rather
expensive. On the up side, it is a portable interactive toy, and
while it certainly doesn't compare to many interactive software
games, its portability makes it rather attractive.

I'm
unsure whether I would buy the unit for my preschooler. I would
probably save money and jump right up to the LeapPad
which has more longevity. Still, this toy is probably better
suited to toddlers and younger preschoolers for its size and
age-appropriate activities.

There
are a number of books available for the unit, including these
recommended ones: